The Warwickshire Lad

The Warwickshire Lad
Martin Best Consort
Argo ZRG 765 [LP]

Contents:

    Anon., Trad. West Country (arr. Martin Best):
  1. The streams of lovely Nancy

    2. Anon., 16th c.:
  2. Le rossignol

    3. Anon., Trad. Worcestershire song (arr. Martin Best):
  3. The cherry tree Carol

    4. Anon., Trad. English Carol (arr. Martin Best):
  4. Tomorrow shall be my dancing day

    5. Thomas Morley:
  5. The turtle dove

    6. Carl Michael Bellman:
  6. Song at nightfall

    7. Henry Holcombe: Airs for german flute
  7. Andante
    Allegro
    Aria affetuoso

    8. Charles Dibdin (arr. Martin Best):
  8. The Warwickshire Lad

    9. ----
    Anon., 13th c.(arr. Martin Best):
  9. A la fontenelle

    10. Bernart de Ventadorn:
  10. Be m'an perdut

    11. Anon., 13th c.:
  11. Ductia
    Danse Royale

    12. Martin Best: Four songs of lovely sorrow
  12. Slow, slow, fresh fount
    The Apparition
    A nocturnal; upon St. Lucie's Day
    S we'll go no more a-roving

    13. John Johnson:
  13. Laveche's galliard

    14. Anon., England, 14th c.:
  14. Angelus ad virginem

    15. Richard Peasles/Lewis Carroll (arr. Martin Best):
  15. Alice

Playing time: ??' ??"

Performers:
Martin Best Consort [Martin Best (singer, guitar lute), Edward Flower (guitar, lute), Jeremy Barlow (flute, renaissance & baroque recorder, piano, organ), Christophe Lebon (cello, treble & tenor viol, tabor), Colin Bilham (double-bass, viola da gamba)]

Recording site and date:
Unknown [1974 or prior]

Reviewed in:
Diapason (#-p.):
Gramophone (Vol./#-p.): 52/615-406 (august 1974)
Fanfare (Vol./#-p.):

Comments: Information from owned LP. Very probably the first recording by the Martin Best Consort, although Martin Best recorded previously an LP with Edward Flower (Grosvernor GRS 1013: The Art of Mistrels).
The Gramophone said in August 1974: "An exciting debut ...there are many treasures ... Excellent recording". For sure the reviewer wasn't wrong for the future.
The same year or in 1975, according to information courtesy of Rob Smyth, he recorded another LP with the Consort (excepting Edward Flower): To Carl Michael with Love. In this LP, Julian Byzantine plays guitar.

Comments from Rob Smyth: The first Martin Best Consort album, mixing folksong, early music and some original compositions. Bellman's 'Song at Nightfall' foreshadows Martin's later albums devoted entirely to the music of Sweden's great 18th century troubadour. 'The Warwickshire Lad' sounds as fresh today as it did upon its release: a young man's work, which fearlessly seeks (and often finds) a common thread between music of different ages.

To FAQ references to this recording.

To FAQ CD index page.

Pierre-F. Roberge